I've been focusing a lot on WWE recently for obvious reasons that doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention to AEW. Aside from the clear issue of needing to refocus and maybe put one person in charge of the women's division who can come up with a clear plan for the division. There is another pressing issue that is at the forefront of everyone's mind the amount of talent that the company has who lack a direction. In my opinion, I know the brand split has it's detractors especially because of the battles for brand supremacy there are advantages to the split though. This isn't where I say I think AEW needs a brand split because Rampage is not a comparable show to Dynamite.
Instead why not allocate certain talent for either show on a week to week basis so one week you see Hook on Rampage then in two weeks maybe a video package of a Hook match on Dark. I don't know that Hook has ever been on Dark, but you get the point. Long term planning is a massive part of any wrestling company's success. Planning on featuring a certain star on one show weekly and not the other would condition fans to be aware of the stars they might see on one program as oppose to the other. I'm not saying that top stars shouldn't be featured on Rampage and it should just be the B-Show as AEW doesn't have the same luxury as WWE to a point. All I'm saying is planning the shows around talent you want to feature and even keeping that talent on the same brand would be an easy way to allow for more talent to be featured on a week to week basis on television. For example, I don't mind the Trustbusters as long as they don't become the weekly enhancement talent and actually have a reason to be seen as often as they are even if it is to elevate Parker. It is clear that AEW has been experiencing some growing pains especially recently which is expected, but how they handle the growing pains will be the real test.
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Recently we've been hearing reports that CM Punk isn't the most satisfied person within the ranks of All Elite Wrestling. It is unclear what is causing the reported issues as it seems the mixed messages center around a Hangman Page promo from earlier in the year and Colt Cabana being moved to ROH. Number one if Punk is offended by something Page said in a promo earlier in the year it's up to him to handle it backstage and in a professional manner not to be a petulant child and whine about it on camera. As World Champion Punk is suppose to be the leader of the roster and his actions last week don't display him as a leader.
As for his relationship with Colt playing a part in the tension within the AEW locker room again it's unclear what caused the tension all we know it's what's been told to us. Punk and Cabana's falling out was covered seven years ago when it was relevant. In my opinion, if Cabana being on ROH's roster would benefit ROH more then his presence in AEW then he belongs in ROH and those in AEW need to accept that. Punk's presence should have no bearing on Cabana's job or where he best fits the only thing that should matter is Cabana being placed in a spot that would benefit everyone involved. Again there seems to be mixed messages coming out about the tension within the AEW to me it just seems like something that could've been avoided and should've been handled differently. On the other side it seems like it could be wrestling news sites raising the heat and making a lot out of nothing. Punk might be a major star for the company, but nothing gives him the right to make demands or decision with regards to who should be in AEW or not. To address the fact that all this is a work they can't keep doing that the MJF thing was believable but they never followed up on it and lost there chance to manufacture another shoot angle would just be desperate in my book. To fully understand the situation though we need to wait until Dynamite this week as Moxley vs Punk is happening a lot sooner then most of us expected. If any of this is true then Punk should lose the spot and Mox should be given the mantle. Either way though we are in for a banger this week on Dynamite when we see the two World Champions collide. The one thing that I've noticed is that AEW has no trouble giving new faces more TV time but they don't always give fans an easy reason to care about the new faces. For example, Daniel Garcia and 2.0 go from being the go to enhancement talent to running with Jericho all of the sudden we are expected to take them seriously. Why? Associating with Chris Jericho makes the previous six months of television meaningless and just now they are different people or maybe all the wins they got on Dark and Elevation. If you want the YouTube shows to matter mention them on actual programming so the fans who don't watch those programs understand why certain talent matter.
Recently we've seen the arrival of The Trusterbusters aka Ariya Daivari, Slim J and Parker Boudreaux on programming without much of an explanation to why they matter. Props to them for giving the reason why people are siding with Ariya, but where are the wins that make them seen as more of a threat to talent and fans. Wins matter, because it shows the fans who should be taken seriously and which talent are more or less cannon fodder for the bigger stars. I understand the lesser known stars are given victories on Dark or Elevation, but where are the recap videos, where is the mention of the pre-existing momentum. Why all of the sudden should someone like Garcia not be thought of as a joke if even with Chris Jericho he still doesn't win often same for 2.0. I know someone will likely say your complaining about something that doesn't matter or your point is outdated. Well let me ask, who do you pay more attention to sometimes without even realizing the people that normally win or the stars who usually lose. I'm not being critical or at least I'm not trying to be critical I just want to point out that AEW has programming they could be doing more with to use to there advantage. I use to point out how WWE wasn't taking advantage of the tape library they have now I think AEW could be doing more to shine a light on the YouTube programming just so fans are more aware. Especially if you want to use those programs to push talent. Not offering an explanation to why the fans should care about someone they are unfamiliar with usually leads to fans brushing off the new talent and ignoring them until they figure that aspect out. Main point is you can use Dark and Elevation to promote the stars fans don't know but at least recap or mention the momentum, talent or the victories on the televised programming. Last week on Dynamite we saw the split we all saw coming with Adam Cole and ReDragon finally turning on the Young Bucks. Question on everyone's mind is if only Bobby Fish is medically cleared then what happens next between Adam Cole and ReDragon against the Bucks. It does seem clear that Hangman Page might be on the Young Bucks side for the trios tournament and this issue might have to have a pin placed in it for the time being. At first Kenny Omega was who I expected to join the Bucks against Adam Cole, but it seems clear that Omega will not be returning to assist the Bucks. Bigger picture Page has needed a bit of direction since he lost the World Championship to CM Punk so this is a good step for him. However, Kenny Omega vs Adam Cole seems like a dream match waiting to happen once everyone is healthy. Looking to the turn though it seems like this might be something that has been building since the Bucks turned on Adam before he left for WWE when they kicked him out of Bullet Club in favor of a certain "Villain." Looking back, it does seem that the Bucks have finally moved back to the good side with Adam sticking on the heel side of the fence. If Adam, Kyle and Bobby are going to miss the trios tournament that will be unfortunate, but injuries are an evil in wrestling like in every sport that we have to deal with as fans. Realistically if the former Undisputed Era misses the tournament they will definitely have there presence felt during the tournament. Either way this turn will bring even more intrigue to a show that has been struggling due to a smattering of injuries recently. |
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November 2022
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